I am finishing a series of books written by artist Thomas Kinkade, along with author Katherine Spencer. The books are set in a fictional town on the New England coast called Cape Light.

I’m not giving away any big secrets on the books, because the “secret” comes out very early in the first book, but adoption is a main theme in the series. A woman placed her child for adoption when she was a young woman after the death of her husband a few weeks before the baby is born. The child learns the identity of her mother and comes to Cape Light to find her.

These books are certainly Christian based with God and faith playing a large part for both mother and child. Both speak with Reverend Ben to discuss their feelings. Naturally the good Reverend leads them to God for answers.

I enjoyed the series for all the characters, not just the adoption portion. The adoption story is intertwined with just about every character. This is not an over and done quickly story either. It’s not a quick reunion and everyone is happy. Instead the story continues over the series of books. The series fully explores the feelings of both mother and child and the interaction of the birthmother and her own mother who aided in the decision to place the child for adoption. I am not a birth mother nor an adopted child, but the both the love and the conflict of feelings reads as realistic. Both hopes and realities conflict as each struggles with their feelings. It also deals with the issues of loyalty between the child and her adoptive parents. She feels the strong need to find her birth mother, but does not want to hurt her adoptive parents.

The mainstream reviewers somewhat trashed the series saying that it was “bible thumping” but as a Christian, and a regular reader of Christian based fiction, that was not my impression. I enjoyed the series and found myself anxiously waiting for mother and child to be reunited even while enjoying the other story lines. The adoption aspect is not over powering, it’s just another part of the story line.

If you have read any of these books, chime in with your opinion.

The titles in the Cape Light series are:

Cape Light
Home Song
A Gathering Place
A New Leaf

There are also several Christmas novels that are set in Cape Light and include the characters from the four main novels.



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